The concept for Stephen Ellison’s fifth album under the Flying Lotus moniker, You’re Dead!, is his most straightforward in quite some time. The obvious angle here is death, which is a topic of heightened interest for anyone over the age of 30. It is worth mentioning that FlyLo has lost several of his relatives, musical influences, and peers over the years. Noteworthy among these are free jazz legend Alice Coltrane and seminal hip-hop producer J Dilla. With this in mind; it should be no surprise that You’re Dead! takes on musical influences and features guest musicians from more than two contemporary generations and molds an album that we have yet to see the likes of.
On You’re Dead!, Flying Lotus often deals in funk, hard bop, free jazz, and hip-hop. “Coronus, The Terminator” sounds like a lost Funkadelic track and Herbie Hancock on the keys provides a nice touch to the frantic jazz numbers “Tesla” and “Moment of Hesitation”. Elsewhere, Ellison’s frenetic arrangements on “Never Catch Me” are every bit as interesting as the rhymes Kendrick Lamar contributes, without one quite overshadowing the other. FlyLo has a knack for mixing vocals like he would any other instrument and it works out as such on a song like “Never Catch Me”, which is the most conventional track on the album. It’s a segue into the downright hazy “Dead Man’s Tetris” that features a refined Captain Murphy and a hot Snoop Dogg verse at the end. It’s not surprising to see Snoop silently having his best year since the 90s considering how hazy and funky production have silently ruled over the last couple of years. The appearance of Lamar and Snoop Dogg on consecutive tracks may connote death as well as You’re Dead!’s artwork. Considering how much it has been a subject in both of their music, the two lend to the creative prowess of You’re Dead! by finding new and interesting ways to write lyrics about a subject that it seemed like everything has been said about.
The songs prior to “Never Catch Me” unofficially form a suite, with “Theme” serving as the album’s overture. Peppered with fascinating calm and enthralling storm, this section’s highlight is the out of control guitar lead at the beginning of “Cold Dead.” The first six tracks lend credence to the notion that Flying Lotus is the best producer out right now, as well as his ability to make hazy, occasionally trap-flavored production that makes Clams Casino and Suicideyear look like also-rans. Flying Lotus is in his own class right now, making the music by which this decade will be largely remembered by when it is revisited by future generations who may consider Kanye West and Deerhunter to be massively overpraised.
In larger quantity than his previous work, Flying Lotus has deconstructed genres that have either lost traction or have actually been pronounced dead, making this mutant of an album with eyes staring directly into tomorrow. Often You’re Dead!, is an album very aware of jazz and funk’s relation to hip-hop, while remaining cognizant of cloud rap and modern hip-hop drum timbres. On You’re Dead!, modern hip-hop production and haze are valued just as much as meticulous arrangements and complex signatures. Truly a melting pot, there is no lame ode to G-Funk here, despite the presence of a G-Funk icon. This is an album that uses a vast knowledge of the past to envision the future, similar to imagining death from the perspective of life experience. The finished project is a present-day gold standard for electronic music.
Rating: 5/5